Hi all! Happy March. Stressful weekend, well it's been a stressful couple of months. We sold our condo in January and still had yet to find a home. We are being super picky because we do.not.want.to.move.again! Three times the charm! Anyway, we found a house in our dream neighborhood. It's at the end of a cul-de-sac, and just perfect. We got an accepted offer this morning, but I am still stressing. From personal experience, I know accepted offers do not mean it is a done deal! I just want to get to P&S and then I can breath a sigh of relief. We have to be out of our condo by April 30, and we may have to rent for a couple of weeks (or stay with family).

Question here. What are you babies nap schedules like? DD is all over the place. She slept 7-7 last night and this morning she needed to go down by 8:30! She was a tired mess. 12 hours isn't enough sleep? Is she getting too much sleep?

misslily-time outs were a fail in our house too. the thing that worked the best was when DS needed to feel the consequence, we took what ever it was away from him. Toys got a time out until he could calm down and play/act nicely. He threw toys, those toys got put away until he was ready to place nicely. Not sure what you'd do with the cat situation though.

DS learned the hard way one day when I offered to take him for a munchkin and he took too long to get dressed and was a general pain. I gave him warnings that if he didn't get dressed quickly we wouldn't have time to stop for a munchkin. Well, we ended up leaving too late, I had informed him no munchkin, and no munchkin was purchased. He was so upset. once he calmed down a simple explanation, then end of story. Now when we suggest stopping for a munchkin he is dressed before we can blink an eye. This AM he wanted to play with his new toy. I told him after he got dressed, he was in/out of the bathroom and dressed with plenty of time for him to play while the rest of us got dressed. He eventually learned.

Liz-DD would always crash about 2 hours after getting up, no matter how long she slept at night.

Its fun to see the similarities/differences in siblings. DS & DD look so much a like-just like their father-nothing like me. Very similar personalities. But at 18 mo, DS was much more difficult to go shopping with, he would be off and running all over the place. If we went to a toy store it was crying fits to get him to move beyond certain sections and out of the store. DD, still runs away, but does spend a good portion walking with me. When in toy stores and we're ready to move to the next section, DD will say "bye" to the toys and walk with me to the next section. DS was a great teether-a little drool and out popped a tooth, DD is horrible at it. fusses and cries for weeks. And we are startign to get our 2nd year molars now-oye!

Liz, congrats on selling your condo and good luck with the home buying process. It's so stressful!! Exciting that you found your dream home though, that gives me hope. DH and I want to move but the town that we'd like to live in has absoutely NOTHING on the market so far this spring. Depressing! RE: Sleep. I think your DD's schedule sounds totally normal. My DD is 7 months and she sleeps from about 7:30-6:00, sometimes 6:30. She naps from about 8:30 to 10:30 and then again from about 1:00-3:30. Occasionally, she will take a short cat nap in the car around 5:00 but only for about 15-20 mins. I took an Isis class and they said a normal baby's schedule often follows the 2-3-4 rule - which is, 2 hours after waking up, they need a nap and then 3 hours after waking from the first nap they need another nap and then 4 hours after waking they need to go to sleep. I try to loosely follow those guidelines. I agree it's ridiculous to put a baby down for a nap at 8:30 in the morning before many people have even had their coffee!! But eventually she will drop the first nap and stay awake until mid-day. Just be grateful she's sleeping 12 hours at night, that's so awesome!

AFM, things are good. DD2 is 7 months old and so much fun. She's sitting up but not moving anywhere yet so she is content to sit on the floor and play with her toys for long-ish stretches, which allows me to get some stuff done around the house, like laundry and making dinner. Starting to emerge out of newborn haze and feel like myself again! One thing she hates is getting her nails cut and she wriggles so much I am afraid of cutting her! Any tips or tricks? When my first daughter was this age the weather was nice and I would take her outside to do it, which distracted her pretty well but can't do that now...just another reason to long for warm weather!

Miss Lily - I just want to say I can totally empathize. I was also a shy kid and my kids, particularly my almost 3 year old are the exact opposite. I just know that she'd wander away from me in the grocery store and I dread the day she asks me if she can walk around. (I make it a point to go to the Roche Bros with the police car shopping carts if I need to take them with me). I don't have twins, but my 18 month old is getting close to the terrible twos and wants to be just like his big sister and they can definitely run rings around me if they give it a little effort. Sigh... To make matters worse they think time out is a game. No solutions for you just a little comisseration. At least I get to go to work and have a break! TGIM!!

KAM - Mine are like that too! VERY similar, but a bit different. Both very outgoing and social, but DS is a bit weary of strangers at first. I think it's easier that they're mostly similar because they get along so well. They really are best friends. I love it!!!

It looks like I missed some of the February posts so I need to go get caught up but Liz here's my DS's current sleep schedule. He'll be 9 months old on Wednesday!

Sleep - 7:30 pm - 6:30 am

7:45 am - 20 minute nap/quiet time on the way to daycare

10 am - nap (usually 45 -60 mins)

1:30 pm - nap (usually 60-90 mins)

5:30pm - 20 minute nap/quiet time on the way home from my mom's

back to bed at 7:30 pm

We have a slight variation on the weekends because we don't have the drive to daycare DS usually will fall asleep in my around 8 am for 20-30 minutes. On the weekends he tends to skip the 5:30 pm quiet time but every now and then he will take a little snooze in my arms. In general he sleeps well overnight but lately has been waking up around 4am and talking/singing to himself for 10-20 minutes.

Liz - Congrats! Hope the P&S comes quickly! RE: naps, DS is a year old and STILL barely makes it to 9 a.m. for his first nap at home. He sleeps about 9-10 and then again from 2-3:30 or so. At daycare, though, he usually only takes 1 nap around 11. Hasn't affected his home schedule one bit though -- go figure. In any case, I know it seems like a short window, but it's definitely normal, and may keep up for awhile.

Rama, I used to get away with propping my feet up on the recliner and sitting/laying DS on my lap facing me to cut his nails, but that's a no-go now. I pretty much do it on the run now: wait until he's occupied with a toy and sit next to him, taking his hand when he lets me (i.e. when he's sufficiently distracted), and get one nail at a time. Often it takes several attempts to get all the nails done, b/c when he realizes what I'm doing he stops cooperating. For the toenails, I usually get them in the high chair while he's feeding himself or DH is feeding him -- I think that was a tip I got off these boards. Needless to say, I have no regard for where the clippings go, so I usually try to do it right before I plan to vacuum :-).

DS naps are all over the place still. This past weekend on Saturday he only slept 20 minutes in the car and then another 20 minutes because he was sooooo tired and on Sunday he had one good nap from 10:30 - 12:15 and then would not take another nap in the afternoon. Last night he was asleep out cold at 5:58pm and slept until 6 am. He usually sleeps 6:30pm - 6 am. I wish he would get on a better schedule but no such luck! He is all over the place during the week too. He doesnt sleep great at my dads but sleeps great for MIL. Like Trouble said TGIM! lol

Liz, congrats and good luck. We were in the same boat last year. It's worth it to hold out for the perfect home for you! I hope the current offer works out! I forget - how old is your baby? I find DS (6.5 months) gets really tired in the morning, and often needs his first nap less than 2 hours after he has gotten up. Weissbluth says babies tolerate being awake between 1-2 hours at a time. But, again, not sure how old your DD is!

Just read Rama's post - love the 2-3-4 rule. Going to include that in an email to my mom and MIL! Once again, just like with DD, we're having nap issues when my mom or MIL are taking care of DS. I'm not sure they understand when to put him down for a nap, and I want to be able to objectively explain without seeming like I'm criticizing. I'm certainly no expert, but want to be able to share what I've learned/read.

Ah, nails! so tricky! I'm like Arcain - I let the clippings fly where they will. They're small, no one will notice them before I have a chance to vacuum, right?

Quick question to throw out there as I try to catch up on everyone's news. When did your baby go from 3 naps per day to 2?

Also, has anyone has success with CIO for naps? We never tried with DD, but I'm thinking we might need to do it with DS.

Our DD dropped her 3rd nap around 7 months. There were a couple weeks where getting her to take that 3rd nap became like torture- lots of tears, screaming and thrashing. So I gave up, and she's fine. Some days if her other naps haven't been that great, she'll have a 30 min nap around 4 pm, but I try to limit that since bedtime is around 6.

Liz, congrats on selling! We sold our townhouse too, and are closing on our new home NEXT week and moving the week after- eek! I totally hear you on the never moving again thing...this will be our forever home (unless god forbid, something horrible happens) and I've been saying the next time I move I'll be old and getting rid of most of my stuff instead of having to pack it!

As far as naps go, my DD (8.5mo) naps 9-10am and 1-3 pm at daycare. Home (weekends, vacation) is similar but the times are off by an hour sometimes due to errands, company, etc.

Moving sucks...no way around it. But it is so worth it for the extra space! We moved the week of the blizzard and I've been cursing the whole process until yesterday when DD, DS and I were up in the attic playroom, which is completely empty, and I realized that I actually have space to fill! And the rest of my life to fill it, since I am NEVER moving again!

Good luck with the inspection and all of that!

DS is now 6 months old. I have no idea where the time went. He's cut two teeth on the bottom, is sitting up, laughing and cooing, and is totally enamored with his big sister. Really getting fun now!

And I love the 2-3-4 rule...when I think about it, that's how he does nap!

Anyone ever had mastitis? I got it late last week and it is miserable. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck, and DD (not quite 2.5) was reading me stories, rubbling my head and telling me to take my medicine. Antibiotics really do make it better quickly though!

Thank goodness it is March! I am sooo over Winter, especially coming off another round of illnesses! The only good thing abotu us both being home for the better part of last week was that she started to crawl and I was there to see it. Not the "first time I see it" but the actual first time! Not sure how many of those I will get, so I am over the moon it happened!!

Liz - HUGE thank you on the Nose Frida. It arrived just in time!! As for naps, I feel like DD's (8 months this week) naps are all over the place too. She definitley does not have set times. She generally sleeps 8pm - 6:30 am, takes one long nap (1.5 - 3 hrs) in the AM, and a short nap in the PM/evening (45- 1hr), but by generally I mean about 4 days out of 7 fit this pattern.

Nails. Ugh! I used to do them when she was asleep, but now that she goes to bed awake my approach is to distract her on the changing table to get the toes. For fingers, i put her in the Bumbo or highchair, put my hand over hers to keep it still, and clip. I usually only get a coupld at a time before she won't tolerate it.

DD wasn't a great napper at home. She'd only sleep for 45 minutes, so I think she did three naps up until a year old. At daycare, prior to 1 year, she did two 2-hour naps. It seems to vary SO much! For her, having different routines didn't seem to do any harm.

For nails, she is so much better about letting me cut them now. She'll usually let me do at least one hand or foot if not both. 6 months ago, I would have been lucky to get 3 fingers before she squirmed away. I definitely used the high chair trick and doing it while she watches TV helps (though it took me a while to give in and try that!).

Did any of you with older LOs switch to a toddler bed even before they tried climbing out? In general, I like to take things slow. Since she's not climbing, I'm hesitant to make the switch... but I don't know how much longer my back can handle putting her down! Had her 2 year appointment last week - she's 35 inches and 30 lbs and this 5'1" mama is struggling not to just drop her in the crib!

Fram - we did. DD never once tried to climb out of her crib. My theory is she never felt the need to; when she called for us, we came and got her out. She's been in a bed since January and only maybe 3 times has gotten up in the morning and come into our room. She has never gotten out at night after we put her to bed. But I know all kids are different! I agree, it's very hard to not *drop* a 2 year old into the crib, they're so heavy. Good luck with your decision!

Fram - my DD (2.5) is still in her crib, but around age 2 I was having the same problem. I started putting her in standing up and she has to lie down herself. Would that help you? Or are you already doing that? It took a few times, maybe, where I would gently help her lie down from standing until she got with the program. Maybe once a month now she'll refuse to lie down. But I sing her a song after she lies down, so if she refuses I tell her I have to go out if she doesn't lie down. If she still doesn't, I leave and shut the door and then when she cries, I come back and she lies down instantly.

re: nails: I do not worry about the clippings; getting them done is hard enough. I remember DH coming home once when I was clipping DD's nails someplace like our bed, and he asked me where the clippings were going. I had a choice response for that. :)

Thanks everyone for the discipline techniques. I've always given toys time outs and done what I considered the "natural" option. Take too long getting dressed? No time for the munchkin. But I'm stuck on how to discipline about the cat - and the unrolling of the TP - which for some reason DRIVES ME CRAZY. It's just a roll of TP for heaven's sakes - but it really pushes my buttons!

My mom had a stroke yesterday as a side effect to the chemo meds, so life around here is about as bad as it can be. She's in the hospital conscious, but unable to speak. I'd like to crawl into a small dark space and curl up with a blankie.

Misslily-so sorry to hear about your Mom. You all are in my thoughts and prayers. Big hugs. From your previous comments i feel like we are in the same part of the state-if you need help PM me.

ETA-I have no help for the kitty-you've already put her away. And for the TP-DS' done that a few times, thankfully not often so I didn't have to address it. Any way to have them clean it up when it happens?

Cuddling with my kiddos does help. Having them throw all their toys all over their room? Not so much.But it's better than sitting in the hospital watching my own mother dying. And they are having so much fun doing it. Nothing like squeals of laughter to make me crack a smile.

If I could, I'd fill a syringe with morphine and pump it all right into her. Absolutely everything the doctors have done from start (in September) to finish has made things worse. They are all a bunch of hacks who never give a straight answer lest they be sued. I thought giving chemo to an 80 year old was crazy and"lo and behold she's had a stroke. Now they want me to choose between giving her some meds to help ease a blood clot in her head - which might cause excessive bleeding to the already injured areas of her brain - or withhold said medicine - in which case she'll probably have another stroke. Which one avoids having my mother become a vegetable? No one can say for sure. Will giving her the medicine help her recover? No one can say for sure. Will withholding cause her death? No one can say for sure. Great. Thanks.

So sorry, misslily...my heart breaks for your responsibility for your mom and her pain. Whatever you choose will not cause her death, though...she's dying of cancer, directly or indirectly, no matter what.